Korean Job Discussion Forums

dulouz · Joined: 04 Feb 2003 Location: Uranus

At my last school, I had one game day. Uno for all, all day. The kids behaved so poorly I got complaints about noise and discipline and it was my worst day there. I just had pizzia day. A group of kids snuck into the room with the pizzia, locked the door and ate all of the pizzia. How can they screw something like that up? Maybe i expect too much but its only uno and pizzia. How can that not go smoothly?

eamo · Joined: 08 Mar 2003 Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.

I've had game and treat days go badly too.

The key is too rule whatever game you're doing with an iron fist and regulate the food treat like army rations. Kids will go ga-ga if these things are allowed to go loose.

tomato · Posted: Fri Apr 29, 2005 8:49 pm Post subject:

I used to have game day every Friday.
That went all right for my half-hour classes, but it proved to be too much of a good thing for my one-hour classes.
So I cut it down to a half-hour for my one-hour classes.

just because · Joined: 01 Aug 2003 Location: Changwon - 4964

Ya-ta Boy · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994

ajuma · Joined: 18 Feb 2003 Location: Anywere but Seoul!!

When I worked in a hagwon, I used to have game day (UNO) every Friday...AFTER a spelling game and a spelling test. Also, the kids HAD to speak English during the game. If anyone spoke Korean, they had to take two cards. They were great a ratting each other out, since the "reward" for winning a game was candy! I can still hear "Teacher, he spoke Korean!!!" Also, if a student missed words on their spelling test, they had to write each one 10 times before they could play.

zappadelta · Joined: 31 Aug 2004

Yu_Bum_suk · Joined: 25 Dec 2004

In Korea it seems that the nice kids are super nice, and the worst ones have absolutely not one ounce of appreciation for anything whatsoever. It's why the idea of group rewards doesn't really strike my fancy.

guangho · Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2005 7:11 am Post subject:

I've never gone for the whole bribing kids with candy business. I guess I have certain expectations of the older ones and the little ones need to be guided towards the goal of behaving. Reducing the whole thing to 'shut up and eat a candy' seems weird to me. Anyone else feel this way? Don't get me wrong, I give out candy as a treat (at the end of the class/week) for good kids, but the whole idea of premising classroom control on a Lotte World blueberry gum seems strange.

Ya-ta Boy · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994

ajuma · Joined: 18 Feb 2003 Location: Anywere but Seoul!!

zappadelta · Joined: 31 Aug 2004

Do they also know, "Teacher, she spoke Korean."

ajuma · Joined: 18 Feb 2003 Location: Anywere but Seoul!!

Nah...it was only the boys who spoke Korean. Wink

tomato · Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2005 8:27 pm Post subject:

Ajuma, you're 50% more successful than I am in keeping the kids from hangukmalling.
How do you do it?

ajuma · Joined: 18 Feb 2003 Location: Anywere but Seoul!!

Sheer bribery! I started each class by writing everyone's name on the board with 5 lines after each name. If a student misbehaved, I erased one line. If they spoke Korean or Konglish 3 times (after a couple of months, just once), I erased a line. The person with the most lines at the end of class got a candy. If they DID need to speak Korean, they had to ask permission "Teacher, may I speak Korean?". There were times when one student didn't understand something and another wanted to explain it. In that case, of course I let them!

I also made speaking English in class something that they could be proud of. I would make sure that they heard me telling my director how happy I was with them because they spoke only English in class. And I told THEM how great they were for speaking English all the time. It was great for their self-esteem.